Shields set to leave GCIA post

After 15 years at the helm of the Gloucester County
Improvement Authority (GCIA), Executive Director David
Shields will retire at the end of the year, giving up a
$185,000 salary.

During his tenure, Shields was involved in a number of
important projects, most notably the financial crisis that
resulted when the state halted payments toward the
county's landfill-related debt, said County
Administrator Chad Bruner.

"It created a big financial vacuum," Bruner said,
which was resolved when the county facilitated contract
negotiations between the municipalities and Wheelabrator, a
waste-to-electricity facility in West Deptford Township.

Shields, Bruner said, was heavily involved in those
negotiations.

"He was thrust into that position," said the
administrator. "He came in during that crisis and
managed that crisis effectively."

Shields declined to be interviewed by the Times. He turns 65
in May and Bruner said Shields just felt it was time to
retire.

Bruner also credited Shields with the successful transfer of
Shady Lane Nursing Home in East Greenwich Township from
county management to GCIA management and getting the
county's recycling program off the ground.

Deputy Administrator Gerald White said the root of
Shields' "very savvy business sense" is his
experience in the private sector, primarily as a project
manager for Bell Atlantic, a job he held for 20 years.

"While he was a very effective government manager, he
cut his teeth in the private sector," said White,
"and he brought that management experience to his role
as executive director (of the GCIA)."

Shields, as mayor of West Deptford, hired White to be
township administrator. The two worked together for about 14
years, said White, who gave his former boss credit for
creating West Deptford's business-friendly reputation.

One of Shields' "crowning achievements,"
White said, was the establishment of RiverWinds Community
Center.

Some township residents have been critical of RiverWinds for its part in contributing to the township's massive debt, but White said overall, the center has been a success....